A Summary View of the Laws Relating to Subscriptions, &c, With.

Adherence to the Creed of the Church of England [Randolph, Thomas (1701-1783), Attributed]. A Summary View of the Laws Relating to Subscriptions, &c. With Remarks, Humbly Offered to the Consideration of the British Parliament. London: [S.n.], Printed in the Year 1771. 36 pp. Octavo (7-3/4" x 4-3/4"; 19.68 x 12.06 cm). Stab-stitched pamphlet bound into recent period-style three-quarter calf over marbled boards, gilt fillets to spine, endpapers renewed. Negligible light rubbing to spine ends and corners, light toning to text. $500. * First edition, one of two issues from 1771 (the other an 8-pp. quarto). Subscription refers to one's adherence to the 39 Articles of Religion, the statement of the doctrines and practices of the Church of England that are part of the Book of Common Prayer. Degree candidates at Cambridge and Oxford were required to submit to a formal declaration of subscription. Using a legal argument, A Summary View opposes a recent movement to abolish this requirement. (Proponents of abolition, basing their case on William and Mary's 1701 Act of Toleration, presented a petition to Parliament in 1772 that was defeated.) Randolph, the presumed author, was a theologian, the president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford and vice-chancellor of the university. A second edition of this pamphlet was published in 1772. English Short-Title Catalogue T57412. …